Lawyers announce recusal of judge in Metropolitan Arseniy's case

Courtroom in Sloviansk. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra

On July 9, 2024, the preparatory court hearing on the case of Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk, the abbot of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra, continued in the Sloviansk city district court of the Donetsk region, according to the Lavra's Telegram channel.

The defendant, a hierarch of the UOC, was brought to the court from the Dnipro pre-trial detention center. Clergy of the UOC, monastery brethren, and laypeople also attended the hearing. MP Victoria Hryb also participated in the hearing, speaking in defense of the bishop via video link.

The lawyers requested that the presiding judge, Tetiana Khaustova, consider the abnormal heat in the room and allow Metropolitan Arseniy to be moved from the glass box to sit next to his defender. However, the judge denied this request. Consequently, the defense requested the recusal of the presiding judge. The hearing will continue after the issue of the judge's recusal is considered. The date for the judge recusal hearing is not yet known.

Despite the two-month detention period ending on June 22, Metropolitan Arseniy was again sent to the Dnipro pre-trial detention center as the issue of his detention remains unresolved.

As the UOJ reported earlier, MP Artem Dmytruk stated that he would submit a deputy request regarding the unlawful detention of Metropolitan Arseniy in the pre-trial detention center.

Read also

Conference on the OCU issue underway in Greece

Participants at the conference have called for an appeal to Patriarch Bartholomew, urging him to acknowledge the mistake of creating the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

In Zabolottia, over 100 parishioners of seized church hold outdoor liturgy

The rector celebrated the Divine Liturgy in a parishioner’s yard after the church was seized by OCU militants.